The Duchess of Cornwall made
a saucy joke about Jane Austen’s brooding Pride and Prejudice hero, Mr.
Darcy, while visiting the author’s former home on Wednesday.
As a voracious Austen reader,
Camilla seemed excited to tour the late author’s home in the village of
Chawton, in Hampshire.
The Duchess was shown clothing
from recent screen adaptations of the author’s work, including the famous white
shirt worn by Colin Firth when he played Mr Darcy in the 1995 television
version.
She was rightfully dismayed to
discover that the shirt was not attached to a real-life Mr Darcy, who famously
emerges dripping from a lake in the show.
Camilla fondly remembered the
iconic scene featuring the Oscar award-winning actor – which arguably
single-handedly managed to entice a new generation of readers into exploring
Austen’s works.
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The Duchess is shown the shirt worn by Colin Firth
“But he’s not in it,
that’s a bit sad,” Camilla joked after being shown the shirt by the
director of Jane Austen’s House, Lizzie Dunford, who replied: “I know,
that’s sad, and it’s not quite as damp as it was.”
Speaking about the famous
white shirt, Lizzie explained to Camilla: “It’s a wonderful artifact, one
of the reasons we wanted to show it was that 1995 production was so
transformative for people loving Pride and Prejudice.”
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A young Colin Firth at a film premiere in 1996
News of the Duchess’ amusing
quip comes just days after she revealed in a short video filmed for her book
club members that one of her dream dinner party guests would be Pride
and Prejudice’s loveable heroine, Elizabeth Bennett.
“I’d have the Count of
Monte Cristo. Then I’d have two rather devious characters to spice up the whole
thing. I’d have Mrs Danvers, dressed in black, and I’d have Count Fosco
from The Woman in White,” Camilla said.
Explaining her choices, she
said: “I think they’d cause quite a lot of trouble and I wanted somebody a
bit different.”
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The Duchess speaks to the director of Jane Austen’s House, Lizzie Dunford
She added: “Then I’d have
a heroine of mine, Elizabeth Bennett. Just a good strong woman to keep the show
on the road, so to speak.”
Jane Austen lived in Chawton
alongside her mother and sister from 1809 until she died in 1817, during which
time she worked on and published her six novels.
